Reoccurring ulcers in the eye

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happyhaffie

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Hey
I'm wondering if anyone has come across ulcers that reoccur in eyes, or have any experience with ulcers in the eye,
My horse developed a ulcer back in December which has been a nightmare to heal, we started to see around 30% improvement three weeks ago then a secondary ulcer has occurred,
We are back treating the eye with chloromycetin 3 times daily, we have took blood from him and are putting the clear plasma stuff back in 3 times a day, he also has atropine in the morning and acular in the evening, all drops are at least ten minutes apart and a danilon in his tea,
The vet seems to be drawing up blank now and can only recommend continuing with treatment, however as he had a previous eye issue (squamous cell caricoma 6 years ago) he is no longer insured, to date we are well into 2k since December, we have had an ultrasound on the eye and cell scrapes which have both come up with nothing basically,
However as he is clearly still in some pain, his eyelashes are pointing down, I'm reluctant to just effectively do nothing, I am now leaning more to removing the eye however the vet says this is the extreme option, but with no other options I'm not sure if it is that extreme,
Any advice or previous experience is gratefully appreciated
 
I had a one eyed horse on loan for a few years. When she developed an ulcer on her good eye some years back vet and I attacked it quite aggressively. She had a tube kind of stitched to her head- had a special name I forget but it basically enabled drugs to get to right place without the wrestling-and I administered a variety of drugs including something made from her plasma ( it was some years back so forgive me being vague ) Drugs were administered every few hours for a couple of days and she finally did improve. The problem was that as it started to heal it would itch, she would rub it and cause another ulcer to resolve this she wore something called a doughnut ( big round ring !) attached to her head collar around the eye to prevent her rubbing. We also used very strong painkillers ( stronger than danilon) which were not cheap.

Apologies for being so vague as it was a few years ago but I think what I am trying to say is that hers did get better it just took a few days of quite intensive nursing and a very determined vet.
 
My horse had an ulcer last year that took at least 3 months to go. He had 3 different antibiotics, none of which worked. Also had atropine for what seemed like forever. Then as a last resort the vet did a procedure which I've helpfully forgotten the name of- basically it involved heavy sedation and scraping of the cornea, took about an hour. He was then v miserable (the horse, not the vet!) for a couple of days & heavily buted. I carried on with the drops & atropine & it cleared up!!! It was a major relief. Has your vet suggested this? Basically as I understand it the horse's immune system thinks the ulcer has healed when it hasn't- so scraping and upsetting the eye again forces the immune system back into action.
 
Thanks for the replies, I forgot to say he is an angel to get his drops etc in

I never thought he could have itched it, thanks I will mention that,

Tronk - I think I know what procedure your talking about, the vet almost criss crosses the ulcer, this was the plan for the original ulcer as we have what looks like a white line, however the second ulcer has appeared higher up, pretty much covering the pupil, and is earlier stages than the first one, which has basically took us back to the start, this new ulcer also seems a lot more raw than the previous one.

Thanks for the replies, it's nice to know others have had lengthy ulcers as well all I keep hearing is they normally clear up in 7 days ��
 
I have a shetland that damaged her eye and that resulted in 6 months of re occuring ulcers, in the end we called it a day and removed the eye and to be honest she has never looked back, 10 + years later she is a lot easier to catch ( you can sneak up on one side ) and it does not seem to inhibit her. I however found it quite traumatic !
 
I don't want to be a voice of gloom but my old girl got an ulcer around April time I think (some years ago now). We did all the eye drops, blood serum and everything but it just would not heal. She didn't seem to be in awful discomfort and she was already blind in that eye from a kick to the head years before so we just kept going. I never knew such an awful thing could happen but one day in September I went up there and the eye had bust as the ulcer had gone full thickness. I lost my little girl as at 39 she was too old to go through having the eye removed. I hope you get yours sorted, but if you do have to remove the eye they cope very well, mine coped with loss of sight after getting kicked in the head.
 
Beginning of november I found my guy in the field with a half shut eye and immediately got the vet. He had uveitis and ulcers, so not exactly like yours. I dropped him off at the vets and left him there for 2 weeks intensive treatment and had one of the top eye specialist in the country look at him as well. He came home but either the uveitis would reoccur or the ulcers and both would return quite aggressively soon as meds were weaned off.

Insurance was running out and it didn't seem fair to keep putting him through the discomfort so I had the other eye checked by the specialist, I didnt want to remove one eye to find the other was showing signs as well, and the opted for enucleation. He has coped well so far, even a day post op it was just another day for him, I think I was more in shock than he was!

Sorry for no proper advice but I would maybe do some research and find an eye specialist. If you can tell them the history, treatment to date and financial predicament they might be able to give some guidance as to your next step.

Hope you get to some sort of conclusion, my one-eyed wonky donkey sends his get well regards to your boy too :)
 
I lost a wonderful horse to a recurring ulcer in the eye. I will forever regret not removing the eye. When my friend's pony had the same, 10 years later, I said as much and she opted to have the eye. The mare was 23, the op cost £900, the mare recovered within a few days and is now 28. After the op she changed completely and for the better; she become more forward going to ride, made more friends in the field.
 
My horse had recurring uveitis after a knock to his eye which we battled for 4 months for. It was a different situation to yourself; he wasn't easy to get drops in which meant a lavage system being fitted and him on box rest. I would have to refer to notes I had at the time but we tried every drug imaginable to try and cure him. With no response I was left with no other option to have it removed and its possibly the best decision I ever made.
When he got his eye out, I think it was more traumatic for me than it was for him. Every horse deals with it differently but for my horse he has coped amazingly which was surprising with how highly strung her is. He was instantly back to himself (because he had no pain) and the change from the horse I took to the vets to the horse I picked up still makes me smile. My advice would to yes try everything but you need to think what's best for you (financially/emotionally) and what's best for your horse. Happy to chat about this if you decide its an option you want to explore.
 
Hello,
I've literally just had this decision myself with my 34 YO mare. She's had a recurring ulcer for about six years, which came back every spring but for no diagnosable reason; it used to be pretty minor but every year was slightly worse and slightly worse. This year we held it off for a while with steroids but it came back with a vengeance and we ended up with her in hospital with a lavage system, but it wouldn't respond to any treatment.

They said we could carry on trying to treat it (but it might take weeks, cost thousands and not work), or remove the eye - or the other possibility is obviously to PTS with such an old horse. I was really concerned and spent several sleepless nights trying to work out what to do, but I asked quite a few vets what they would do if this was their ancient horse (though in otherwise good health) and they all said they'd remove the eye. It's standing surgery and quite straightforward.

We went ahead. She's honestly SO much happier. They said that they often get horses who are grumpy (or whatever), then develop the eye problem, then have an eye rmeoved - and are suddenly not even grumpy any more and it turns out they've been in pain for ages. My mare has never been grumpy or anything, but I have to say she looks the best she's looked in years now and I would agree that she had probably been a bit low about it for a while and I just assumed this was old age or whatever. I'm only four weeks down the line and she's doing great and I'm relieved I did it - it's also a hell of a lot cheaper than weeks of lavage system and box rest. She's jsut gone back out with other horses and is coping so well. There was about a week or so where she was spooky/anxious but nothing too serious, but after that she just went back to normal really.

Obviously mine's retired so that's fine, but I also know a few ridden horses with one eye who are just pretty much normal. I'd say if you've got a recurring ulcer like that and removal of the eye is an option, it seems pretty straightforward for the vets and at least at the hospital I was at, they said no massive deal really.
 
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